Padres rocked by Braves

Padres outfielder Ryan Ludwick watches as a solo home run by Atlanta’s David Ross clears the fence in the second inning, much to the delight of a fan wearing a Braves jersey in the left field seats at Petco Park.
— K.C. Alfred

Padres outfielder Ryan Ludwick watches as a solo home run by Atlanta’s David Ross clears the fence in the second inning, much to the delight of a fan wearing a Braves jersey in the left field seats at Petco Park.
— K.C. Alfred

Atlanta’s 34-year-old backup catcher caught Harang 33 times when they were teammates in Cincinnati from 2006-2008.

Tuesday night the former batterymates lined up against one another at Petco Park and the decision went to Ross.

Ross drove in four runs with a pair of homers off Harang as the Braves routed the Padres 8-2 before 20,492 — handing the Padres a fifth loss in their last six games.

Atlanta right-hander Jair Jurrjens — who gave up eight runs in 3 1/3 innings in the Padres’ 17-run home opener of the 2010 season — got revenge by throwing the first complete game of his career while allowing nine hits.

The loss prevented Harang from becoming the first pitcher in Padres history to go 5-0 in April.

The first homer by Ross in the second reached the front row of the second deck in left. The second was a three-run drive to left that capped a five-run fifth. Ross is now 4-for-9 lifetime against his former teammate with three homers.

“He hit my mistakes in a situation where he florishes,” Harang said of Ross. “He can hit pitches up in the zone better than anything.

“On the first homer, he got a fastball up on a 2-and-0 count when I’ve got to come in with a strike and the pitch was elevated. The last at-bat was a high change-up.”

“Knowing his tendencies helps,” admitted Ross.

Neither of the Ross homers, however, will have the historical significance of Chipper Jones’ two-run homer in the first off Harang.

That homer, the first of three allowed by Harang, moved the Atlanta third baseman into a tie with Mickey Mantle for second-place on the all-time list of switch-hitting RBI leaders at 1,509. Hall of Famer Eddie Murray tops the list with 1,917.

Harang hadn’t allowed a homer in 24 1/3 innings this season until Jones followed a one-out walk to Jason Heyward Tuesday night.

Over the course of his career, Harang has allowed an average of 1¼ homers per nine innings. The three homers allowed Tuesday night accounted for six of the eight runs scored by the Braves as Harang’s earned run average more than doubled from 1.88 to 3.90.

Still, the Padres were trailing only 3-1 entering the top of the sixth — having scored in the fourth when Orlando Hudson followed a second straight single by Jorge Cantu with a triple that split the gap between left and center.

After Jones led off with a single, Dan Uggla had perhaps the key at-bat of the inning — fouling off three pitches while battling back from an 0-and-2 count to draw a nine-pitch walk. Harang then walked rookie first baseman Freddie Freeman on four pitches to load the bases.

Shortstop Alex Gonzalez rolled a single through the middle of a drawn-in infield to make it 5-1. Ross homered after Harang struck out Nate McLouth.

“The balls up in the strike zone came back to haunt Aaron tonight,” said Padres manager Bud Black, who added the fact that Harang is still feeling the effects of the virus that hit him in Chicago.

“That and the walks.”

All three of the hitters walked by Harang scored.

“It didn’t seem like I could locate anything tonight,” said Harang. “You’ve got to look at it as one of those games. You’re just not going to have it every once in a while. “They’re an aggressive fastball hitting team and when you can’t locate your pitches, obviously it showed what can happen.”

The eight runs scored by the Braves matched the most allowed by the Padrres in a game this season. San Francisco defeated the Padres 8-4 back on April 6 – triggering the Padres 6-14 slide over their last 20 games.

“We don’t give those up very often,” said Black. “Rare to see that.”

Several Padres again show signs of breaking out of prolonged slumps.

Ryan Ludwick had two doubles in four at-bats. Jorge Cantu hit the ball hard on all four at-bats and finished with a pair of singles. And Brad Hawpe scored the Padres' second run after doubling to lead off the ninth, although he twice grounded out earlier in the game with runners in scoring position.

Right-hander Evan Scribner, who was promoted from Triple-A Tucson Monday, made his major league debut in relief of Harang and worked two scoreless innings, allowing two singles and a walk.